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No surgical sex change? No problem at BMV to alter gender on licenses
By Marc Kovac
Those wishing a change need only a doctor’s statement to verify gender identity.
COLUMBUS — Ohioans wanting to change their gender on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards no longer have to have their body parts medically altered, under a new policy introduced by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles this month.
In the past, transgender Ohioans had to obtain letters from physicians as proof that they had completed full sex-change operations to change the gender listing.
Under the new policy, launched this week, affected residents submit a form signed by their physician or a licensed therapist or psychologist that they are living as the opposite gender, whether surgical procedures have been completed or not.
The new form includes space identifying applicants’ birth gender, their “gender identification” and their “gender change.” Physicians or psychologists must certify that the applicant “is sufficiently ready for, or has completed a gender role transition, and it is intended this role change is to be permanent,” according to the form. “This transition may or may not lead to further surgical intervention.”
Translated, that means they do not necessarily have to complete gender reassignment surgery to qualify, said Lindsay Komlanc, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
“In that physician or therapist’s mind, they have completed the process to the extent possible for that person,” she said.
Komlanc said the new policy was developed after members of the transgender community approached the state agency about the process of changing one’s gender on driver’s licenses.
“Not everyone who has the desire to have the full operation actually has the means for it,” she said. “It is a very long process from the start to the completion of when it actually occurs. [And] not everyone is actually physically able or healthy enough to have the operation. ... In the event that the person cannot have the operation, for whatever reason, the therapist can certify that they have been working with the person and that person is truly living as whichever gender it is.”
Komlanc said a very small percentage of issued licenses are affected by the change. Of the 8 million state-issued licenses and identification cards, fewer than 10 annually fell under former gender-change policy. About five applications have been submitted under the new one.
Transgender Ohioans must request the new form. Those who are in transition must submit a new one every time they renew their license. Anyone failing to submit the forms during license renewal will have their gender designation switched back to the original, Komlanc said.
- Requires free registration.
Comments
"....that person is truly living as whichever gender it is.”
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I almost choked on the wording that Lindsay Komlanc used. Whichever gender "IT" is??? Wow, it sounds like pregnancy when people resort to the word "it" when moms don't know the sex of their babies!
"IT" ??? So inappropriate! Ms. Komlanc, at least use the well-worn phrase "he or she" which is much more polite than calling a person an "it", especially trans-gendered persons! Aren't they already looked on as an "it" enough in society?! Geesh!
i think their cars could provide clues. boxster = woman, cayman = man. cougar = older woman (but exciting!). country squire = transgender. pickup = open to relationship. or, you could just check their silhouette and decide for yourself!
Sick, sick, sick.
Not worthy of print.
This is without a doubt to open the doorway to gay marraige in ohio. If you can't identify someone's gender they can't say they won't recognize the marraige. Terrible.
How is that NOT considered falsification of a legal document if the person is in fact still legally and physically a male, but his license says female, or vice versa?
Not only is it falsification of a government document, I believe women pay lower insurance premiums than men based on accident history. So if Harry acts like Harriet he gets a lower premum because his license says he is female? Bull**it.
Your correct but I believe women pay more for dry cleaning.
It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant people can be. The comments below are quite awful- it seems to escape these people that there might be more to gender presentation than sexual organs. Though they themselves would likely be loath to admit that they could be reduced to what's between their legs.
The reason these changes are welcome and necessary is because transgendered and transsexual people face discrimination due to documents not lining up with their gender presentation, leading to awkward questions or risk of abuse; whether it's being denied a job, harassed by a police officer or what have you.
Trans people are the sexes they assert they are, their body at birth simply didn't line up with how they'd feel as they got older. It is not the role of the state to punish them for that, nor is it the role of people like DoctorGonzo or the homophobic Search4Answers to adjudicate on matters that have nothing to do with their personal safety or the safety of anyone they love.
Trans people didn't choose this, any more than you chose to be straight white males. It is not the role of government to punish them for that merely so you feel a little more comfortable. What's "bull**it", DoctorGonzo, is the fact that you're making up nonsense about lower insurance rates. That's an aggregate figure, but *individual* men and women are charged the same rate up front.
If you don't know this, how can you possibly claim enlightened dominion over transgendered Ohioans?
Lastly it isn't falsification, it's the truth. A trans woman is a woman, a trans man is a man, F and M respectively. Their documents reflecting how they present themselves, their names, and how they live their lives seems to me like an accurate depiction of reality. Your perverse desire to know what's between their legs, or for the rest of the world to know such would be considered sick if you were talking about any group other than trans people. Thank goodness none of you work in government.
Ohio should be praised for this.
First of all I was just analyzing ramifications of what this could do.
People would be very angry if they voted on something and they do it anyway through a backdoor method.
Second there is legal difference between gender and sex. You could quite possibly be a sexed woman but gendered a man.
This is a lot more complicated than just figuring out what bathroom someone goes to.
I'm sorry, I don't believe in this whole transgendered thing in the first place. I don't care if that makes me prejudiced, judgmental, close-minded, or any of the above.
I mean, if that's something that you want to do, okay, fine. I don't agree with it, but that's me. Regardless, I don't think it should be recognized legally unless you've got the documentation to prove it. Whatever your birth certificate says you are is what should go on your drivers' license until you've got a document stating otherwise.
I think this is a step forward. It has nothing to do with same-sex marriage
I think this is a step forward for human-rights, compassion and dignity. It has nothing to do with same-sex marriage per-se. Of course, being transgender myself, I know that people that are not trans don't understand the need for this and have all sorts of wild and unfounded arguments because they simply don't know the facts about us and why we must transition. All they know is what Jerry Springer and some hate monger preachers have said and many, sadly, are foolish enough to believe them, but to those of us that are in the process of changing our gender permanently it is a very compassionate move on the part of the BMV. It is not a deception for those of us that never again will live as a male to have a female ID or for those going the other direction from female to male to have one appropriate to their target gender. It allows for those of us that are taking this path in life to do so with far less hassle and danger to ourselves from people that would otherwise be violent if the law were not there to protect us.
Thanks and kudos to the BMV! And thanks for publishing this article!
what if, despite reality, i feel other physical features of mine are incorrect. i'm six feet tall, but inside, I know that i was born a dwarf. plus, though i'm 185 pounds, i'm sure that my correct weight is closer to 125. plus, i want my eyes to be dark brown (but since I know they're blue, they only appear brown in the dark). oh, and i feel my hair is blond, even though i'm bald. will the bmv allow me to alter reality on my license to reflect what i feel inside i really am? this decision by bmv is absurd.
"Regardless, I don't think it should be recognized legally unless you've got the documentation to prove it."
This comment is funny because that's still how it works: you have to bring in PROOF from a PHYSICIAN OR PSYCHOLOGIST confirming one's gender status before they make any changes to how one is legally recognized. The only change being made is that the proof asked for is slightly less intrusive to one's privacy.
Really, if one is living fulltime as a man or a woman they probably look the part or damn close to it. For identification purposes, that's all that really matters. Unless you make a habit of feeling people up when you're checking ID?
The crux is that someone who may be one gender can claim another gender simply by dressing and "acting" like the opposite gender. Is that reality?
@DoctorGonzo: any such claims still have to be supported with documentation from specific third parties - a physician or psychologist. And getting that support from them is not a simple process.
Search4Ansers: Are you suggesting that a gay man might live full time as a female for a year then successfully con his psychologist into writing a letter that he's transsexual so that he can get married in Ohio?
DoctorGonzo: Are you actually saying that someone would go to those same lengths just to save money on car insurance? Just the cost of clothes would outweigh the supposed savings!
captainlinger: Are your weight, eye color or hair color used to determine what pronouns people refer to you with in conversation? What restroom you use? How you are expected to behave emotionally? Then you're in luck! Because you can gain/lose weight, get colored contacts, or dye your hair and the BMV will be glad to change your license for you! The only thing that's difficult to change is your height, but you can get surgery in Russia for that. Even if you don't actually make the change, the BMV lets everybody lie about their weight. My brother is 5'10" and weighs 230 lbs, but his license says he's 6'0" and 185 lbs! Besides, if you haven't noticed, over the course of your life your height, weight and hair color can change quite a bit, and nobody raises much of a stink about it. So what exactly is your argument?
The transgendered community is pretty small, and I understand that most people think of us as crazies, perverts and drag queens. But the reality is that there are a lot of nice normal people out there who are living as a different gender than what their birth certificate says, and it's kinda sad not to have their license match that. It's scary the degree to which some people are horrified by transfolks being accepted. Are you afraid of what can happen if pre-op t-girls aren't clearly marked? Like maybe you're going to be dating some tall hottie for a couple weeks and things are going to get a little steamy after a date and you're going to find a penis she didn't tell you about? And that will instantly make you gay, right? And then that angry God of yours will send you straight to hell! So you ask to see every girl's license and verify her gender before you go on a date, right? It all makes sense now. Maybe we should make things easier and just all wear a scarlet T so as to stand out more clearly.
Even if you don't believe in being transgendered, do a little research into intersex conditions. Many people aren't totally male or female. The doctor pretty much flipped a coin to decide what to put on the birth certificate. It's totally unfair to say that gender is a binary condition that you have to be stuck with no matter how you live.
raquel, the first line of steve martin's movie, "the jerk", is, "I was born a poor, black child...". he took it quite hard when his mother revealed that he was, in fact, adopted and white. are you implying that the race on his license should be black?
captainlinger: The Jerk is a lovely film. But where exactly is "race" shown on an Ohio Driver License? If it were on there (which it isn't), I guarantee you could put down whatever you want. You are often given the option, but the state never actually forces you to define yourself as white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and they do not demand a doctor's letter saying that you are actually the race you claim to be.
The day will come when gender transition is no longer be seen as a sad, somewhat shameful and tragic event, but instead as a wonderful life-giving miracle for those so unfortunate as to have been mis-gendered at birth.I hope to live to see that day.
Nicky